I note with disbelief that a meeting of Caricom leaders in St. Kitts expressed solidarity with Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi, the butcher of Libya, but said nothing about the atrocities Gaddafi inflicted on his own people who are seeking reform in the context of the Arab spring that is unfolding in the Middle East.
The Caricom leaders are calling on NATO leaders to end the “aggression” against Libya and seem to be oblivious to the fundamental principle, enshrined in international law, that permits intervention in countries on humanitarian grounds when the lives and safety of citizens are threatened. No one in his sound mind will dispute the potential for blood bath and mayhem, had Gaddafi been allowed free reign to take down the rebels in opposition to his rule.
If NATO’s action in Libya is aggression then the humanitarian intervention in Bosnia during the administration of President Bill Clinton in the mid 1990’s where thousands of Muslims where under threat of extermination by the ruling Serbs, was also aggression. But it would take a village idiot, or someone who is woefully out of touch with reality, to conclude that the NATO operation in Bosnia was anything but a humanitarian mission.
Caricoms’s irrational outburst in St. Kitts is both enigmatic and predictable. Enigmatic because the Caribbean region, by and large, has a somewhat strong tradition of democracy and respect for individual rights and the rule of law, even if this condition is being eroded in some territories, most notably in Dominica where the prime minister, Roosevelt Skerritt, has embarked upon a mission to replace the rule of law and democracy that we inherited from our colonial master with “rule by Skerritt”. Predictable because our leaders do not fail to take the low road when their personal or political interests are threatened.
Note for example that the two leaders who were quoted in the Caricom press release: Dominica’s Roosevelt Skerritt and his counterpart in St. Kitts. The former is known for obtaining bundles of cash from Gaddafi that serves as a slosh fund to carry out his nefarious political activities. The latter reportedly was carded to receive a branch of a Libyan bank. Others in Caricom may not be as shameless as the aforementioned leaders, or are more suave in disguising their true motives. Yet their silence speaks volumes about their willingness to tolerate abuses of human rights, and indeed even genocide, if this will permit them access to Gaddafi’s pieces of silver.
It is a shameful blot on the record of Caricom to say to the international community that it is permissible for a leader to butcher his own people providing that this leader is generous with his wealth. It is also shameful that these leaders would resort to the old rhetoric of anti colonialism to justify their behavior when the entire world has moved beyond this tired refrain to a more enlightened position about democracy and human rights which few apologists would argue exists in Libya under Gaddafi.
Some may want to justify their support for Gaddafi by claiming that it is in the region’s and individual country’s foreign policy interest to support him. But as I stated in my previous piece entitled “It All Looks Familiar”, given our size and economic irrelevance, our significance and indeed, our relevance in the international community cannot be divorced from the principled positions we take on matters that affect the global village that we live in.
It may well be that Caricom leaders wish to stake out a position for themselves and their citizens in defiance of the values that the rest of the international community, guided by the evolution of proper norms of behavior, find morally acceptable. But it is also possible that they are genuinely confused, caught between the devil’s benevolence and the ethical standards that some, with the possible exception of Skerrit, believe to be sacred in the conduct of domestic and international policy.
Aggression and intervention in the internal affairs of another country are illegal and undesirable but not when undertaken in a humanitarian mission to save lives.
So my advice to the Caricom heads whose heads are buried deeply in the sand is to get real and take note of the century we are living in. In this twenty first century where the world is flat and territorial boundaries are being knocked down by advances in communication and technology, adherence to the old canard of “aggression” when human rights are being trampled upon is as relevant today as the slave ships that transported us from the womb of Africa more than three centuries ago.
It irks me when some one is so one-sided. Aren’t people fighting for freedom in Syria, Barhain, Yemen etc? Why is NATO not protecting them?
In Irag they call the people who are fighting the Government Insurgents. In Afghanistan they are called Taliban, in Libya they are called rebels, In Palestine they are called terrorists, In Yemen they are called extremists. In Syria they are called anti-government protesters.
It is true that in each of the countries where the protests are taking place, the government is killing innocent people. Don’t Mr. Esprit and Nato know that?
In a nutshell all the protesters are fighting for the same thing. However, the brainwashed Mr. Esprit as well as NATO are only focussed on Libya. Please Mr. Esprit answer me why?
It irks me when some one is so one-sided. Aren’t people fighting for freedom in Syria, Barhain, Yemen etc? Why is NATO not protecting them?
In Irag they call the people who are fighting the Government Insurgents. In Afghanistan they are called Taliban, in Libya they are called rebels, In Palestine they are called terrorists, In Yemen they are called extremists. In Syria they are called anti-government protesters.
It is true that in each of the countries where the protests are taking place, the government is killing innocent people. Does n’t Mr. Esprit and Nato know that?
In a nutshell all the protesters are fighting for the same thing. However, the brainwashed Mr. Esprit as well as NATO are only focussed on Libya. Please Mr. Esprit answer me why?
ADMIN: where is your moderation of this persons vague repetition????? please sir u said it once and i didnt understand the POINT that u were trying to make so there is no need to say it again, i doubt that you even intended to make a point, maybe when caricom leaders like yours adopt the same measures against u you will retract your ugly perspective. we are well aware that u may have sold your fundamental rights as an individual citizen. but me and many others are prepared to die for ours and are not so easily turned into a commodity. just as your name resonates, time will tell so to will come the expiry date for all those who place themselves on a shelf to be bought and sold at a whim.
My God! o Phillip Timothy;
It would be better if you had just answer my question. Or maybe you can’t comprehend. I was only asking why NATO is not protecting the citizens of Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria from their government’s slaughter?
Caribbean governments have no right to be puppets of NATO. What did NATO do to end apathied in South Africa?.
Madella spent 24 years in prison while the white racist government slaughtered thousands of black people in South Africa. Why didn’t NATO free Mandella?
Maybe you do not have enough brains to sift through the news you see on TV. That is typical of block-heads.
Great article, cogent and sound.
We are so inclined to talk about the West intervening in Libya for the sole purpose of oil.. That we justify our leaders acceptance of aid from such countries, no matter the cost. It is alright for him to murder people who speak out.. It is alright for him to crack down with brutal force.. Human rights violations are violations no matter what side you support… If the west does it they are wrong too… But let us not raise our hands in support of tyranny just because we are the recipients of a few $$$$$
i agree with what u say, but america already found their alternative energy source, natural gas extracted from shale deposits, which are in abundant supply in america. louisianna farmers are becoming millionaires as energy companies try to move in for the kill… so the “oil” story is out the window. the fact of the matter is absolute power corrupts and now that people want their rights DICTATORS WHO WANT TO HOLD ON TO THEIR POWER AT ALL COSTS ARE KILLING ALL OPPOSITION….PLAIN AND SIMPLE LIKE THAT IN BLACK AND WHITE.
Truth burn dem out. Blood money is ok and an eroding democracy also…
Gary, your article reflects someone who has been completely brainwashed by the western media. I feel sorry for you Mr. Esprit.
The main reason why these infidels invaded Libya is that Gaddafi decided to nationalize the oil.
MORE RUBBISH! go read a freaking newspaper, america dont need arab oil anymore…… god, stop living in 1999. and throw that old story by SOLID WASTE
I totally agree with the author. Those Caribbean begging leaders are missing Gaddahfi’s blood money.. They soidarity and concern is not the the Libyan people that Ghaddfi massacred and continue to massacre when they sought theor freedom from his 42 years of Tyranny! They have to continue supporting the likes of Ghaddafi and Chavez, because they have become so anti- America, who will they beg???? I join chorus Shame on Caricom, shame on them! Shame!
This piece definitely comes from a Fox news believer. How can you compare a planned and implemented invasion of a country by foreign powers through the use of paid actors posing as revolutionaries a justified reason for war?
You are still mentally enslaved, not by your colonial oppressors, but by yourself for failing to dig deeper than what you see on your TV screen. There is so much more to this affair.
Do you see a pattern? Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya?…. Think my brother, don’t be fooled. You are not Jewish are you?
Ok you talk about dig deeper, while there might be some veracity to ulterior motives, does that justify Gadafi killing innocent civilians. Killing on any side is injustice. My only hope is that the international community respond to the threats of tyranny not just in the OIL- RICH SPHERES OF THE GLOBE, but in Africa, Sudan, Venezuela, China, Timor.. Etc because injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
AND THE SAME STORY AGAIN UHH??? AMERICA WANT OIL???? UHHHH????? MANNN
HERE BUDDY GO AND UPDATE YOUR MIND… AMERICA IS ALREADY DEVELOPING NATURAL GAS RESERVES, SO TELL ME NOW WHO IS REALLY BRIANWASHED?? MILLIONAIRES ARE BEING MADE AS WE SPEAK BY ENERGY COMPANIES WANTING TO EXTRACT NATURAL GAS FROM SHALE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shale_gas
Jewish? far from it. I am just a plain old fashion liberal who values life, liberty and justice
What about the atrocities in Syria…you forgot these?
Or what about Bahrain…you failed to ask for the same intervention.
The US and EU had no right to intervene in Libya.
If people want freedom, they fight for it.
In Egypt & Tunisia they did just that, without the US or EU doing anything.
Your article while nicely written seems selective.
It is time for people of their home country to fight for what they want. No need for Uncle Sam or the colonial Masters to intervene.
If you get your freedom by way of America or Britain, you can ensure you will never be free.
Leave people alone.
shame
The US did intervene in Egypt and Tunisia. They froze assets of those at the head of the mischief. Intervention comes in many forms.
THANK YOU!!! when the government of syria killing 20,000 people?????? ur blind self can imagine 20,000 people dying in Dominica??? you are sad my friends truely sad. people like u should not comment on these issues. SHAME ON ALLU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
well written this carebean leaders have no shame it is so funny how one would react for the sake of some penny.